ArticleBlog | Preaching the cross to wounded people
Preaching the cross to wounded people
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 27.12.18
You wait until the service is starting, then shuffle onto the end of the very last aisle. You keep your eyes on the notice sheet, praying no one will talk to you. Your make-up covers up the bruises but as the music starts, you have to dig your nails into your hand to prevent the tears escaping.
You don’t know why you came today, only that back at home he was properly passed out from the drink. He’d never know you’d gone. Looking at the toilets next to the exit, you think, ‘I could just walk out if I needed to.’ People would think you were going to the toilet – only you wouldn’t return.
He’s always saying how disgusting and stupid you are, a bad, bad person – but there is a small part of you that resists believing that. You are hoping to find someone here who sees you’re good inside, worthy of love and respect. You fidget in your seat as people sing around you.
The preacher stands up to introduce communion. ‘We are all unworthy sinners. We’re like filthy rags before God. Yet Jesus suffered instead of us. Through his death our sins are forgiven.’
There is an empty, gold cross at the front. Everyone nods and smiles, but a weight drops on your chest. The preacher is urging you to search your heart and confess your sins before God, but this week you have had enough of begging for forgiveness for things that weren’t your fault. You wait for the next song and walk out.
The danger of preaching one aspect of the cross
